Ginger Rogers's Oscar Dress
For the final day of my week-long series on some of my favourite Oscar dresses, let's look at the dress Ginger Rogers wore when she stunned Hollywood by winning its top prize.
By 1940, Ginger Rogers had been in the movie business for a decade and was one half of the world's most famous dancing duo. She was, despite all the fame and fortune awarded as a top comedienne, ready to try her hand at dramatic roles and agreed to retire the Astaire/Rogers partnership. Her first major dramatic role was 1940's Kitty Foyle.
Kitty Foyle, the titular heroine of the film, was so unlike Ginger, and so far from her own strong morals that at first she turned down the part when it was offered to her: she'd been offended that anyone at RKO would think she was like Kitty. But then she read the script and realized that she needed to make this film, and it paid off. On Oscar night in 1941, the first time the winners weren't previously announced, she beat Bette Davis, Joan Fontaine, Katharine Hepburn, and Martha Scott to win Best Actress in a Leading Role.
As this was the first Oscars after the United States joined the Second World War, attendees were urged to dress with austerity in mind. Ginger's simple (yet slightly provocative) grey lingerie-style dress, designed by famed designer Irene Gibbons, was lightweight, colourless and appropriate for a ceremony that had been dialed back due to the war effort.
Though she attended the Oscars several times over the years, Kitty Foyle was her only nomination and only win.
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